Heirloom Garden

Gardening was much more than a hobby in the early 1900s when farm families grew much of the food that the family consumed throughout the year. Marcella recalled that: “Every farmer grew his own potatoes and vegetables, raised his own meat, milk, and eggs, and made his own butter.”

The Schumacher family planted a generous garden every year, and cared for it diligently. The family drew water from a hand pump and carried it in a pail or a sprinkling can to water the garden. The family had a variety of ways to preserve the vegetables they grew. They stored potatoes in the basement, which was cool and dry, an excellent space to preserve food before refrigeration. They stored root vegetables such as carrots, beets and rutabagas, in boxes with dried leaves and sand, while cabbage they wrapped in paper. The family used sugar, salt, and vinegar to preserve fruit in open crocks. Later, after glass jars became available, the family canned much of the fruit and vegetables they grew in the summertime.

Today, a handful of volunteers takes care of this heirloom garden, planting, weeding and watering, and maintaining fencing to keep rabbits, chickens and other hungry herbivores from feeding upon the plants. The plants in the heirloom garden are representative of those grown on family farms in the 1920s and 30s. The garden features a strawberry patch, grape vines, rhubarb, asparagus, raspberry and currant bushes. Volunteers also plant annual vegetables, including bush beans, kale, and zucchini, and maintain an herb garden. No herbicides or pesticides are used on any of these plants.